Brasilia/DF; Brazil

Back in 1960, a brand new city was founded in the semi-arid geographical center of Brazil. Brasilia took just four years to build. It was intended to be the capital of the country at a time when most of its major cities were strung along the Atlantic coast and little attention was being paid to the interior. Now, barely 50 years later, the city is home to about 2.5 million people and showcases the crowning achievement of architect extraordinaire, Oscar Niemeyer. He designed most of the public buildings in his trademark futuristic style.

Not only is the architecture of the buildings in Brasilia unique, but so is the way in which the plan for the city was originally conceived and ultimately realized. The urban project was the brainchild of Lucio Costa, winner of a national contest that was held at the time. His award was based on originality. Looking at Brasilia from the sky, the city appears in the shape of an airplane with two residential wings (North and South) and the fuselage (East-West), consisting of public sector buildings. A placid artificial lake was also part of the scheme.

Brasilia has no street corners per se. Residential buildings are limited to six stories maximum. Vast areas were set aside for parks and other open spaces where no construction will ever be allowed. The idea was to maintain numerous green oases for the pleasure of the people to enjoy.

Streets and avenues were not designed to find addresses in the usual way. Instead, destinations can be easily reached by first making oneself familiar with a simple matrix consisting of both numbers and letters.

The original concept of the city was anticipated to have no traffic lights, traffic jams, crime, etc. But the ideal of a safe and quiet place, where lawmakers would weigh their decisions (affecting the entire nation) in relative peace and comfort, would ultimately fall short. A massive rural-urban migration continues to this day, and a city originally planned to house 500,000 would grow five fold. Whereas new construction inside city limits is severely restricted, a host of satelite towns have sprung up on the outskirts where housing construction proceeds at a furious pace. Most of the people living in these communities commute daily to the capital for work (or to seek same). Sadly, Brasilia today is not exempt from the typical problems that also plague major urban centers around the world.

Nevertheless, Brasilia is worth a visit. It stands as a monument to a credible vision, brought to fruition by the unflagging determination of President Juscelino Kubichek and his friend, Israel Pinheiro among many others; including, of course, also “os candangos”, the thousands who arrived here from all over the country (and the world) to accomplish the impossible. It was a vision that by rights should have failed – a project (not unlike our very own Las Vegas) that was built where nothing had ever been or would ever be save for the almost superhuman effort of a talented people who dared look to the future and vowed to come prepared.

The weather is warm throughout the year, with only slight variations of temperature.

article by Filipe Werneck